Endolymphatic sac drainage for the treatment of Ménière's disease

A longitudinal study of unilateral Ménière's disease and clinical evolutionary models

OBJECTIVE

The heterogeneity of Ménière's disease is presently defined by a variety of subtypes. This study introduced three different subtypes of unilateral Ménière's disease based on the evolution of vertigo crises from their inception.

METHOD

A longitudinal descriptive study of 327 unilateral Ménière's disease patients was performed. In a subgroup of patients followed from the onset of the disease, 3 subtypes of unilateral Ménière's disease were defined according to the vertiginous crises suffered during the first 10 years of the disorder.

RESULTS

Data was available for 87 patients with unilateral Ménière's disease from the start of their disease (26.6 per cent of the original sample). These patients were grouped into three models according to their symptomatic evolution. Model 3 was associated with a worse hearing prognosis, a greater number of Tumarkin's otolithic crises and the need for surgery. Model 1 presented less hearing loss.

CONCLUSION

Unilateral Ménière's disease models based on the evolution of vertiginous crises present differences according to aspects such as hearing loss, vertiginous crisis, Tumarkin's otolithic crisis and the need for surgery.

Outcomes of Endolymphatic Sac Surgery for Meniere's Disease with and without Comorbid Migraine

Purpose

To explore outcomes of endolymphatic sac surgery for patients with Meniere's disease with and without the comorbid condition of migraine.

Materials and Methods

A retrospective chart review of adult patients undergoing endolymphatic sac surgery at a single tertiary care center from 1987 to 2019 was performed. All adult patients who failed medical therapy and underwent primary endolymphatic sac surgery were included. The main outcome measures were vertigo control and functional level scale (FLS) score. Patient characteristics, comorbidities, and audiometric outcomes were tracked as well.

Results

Patients with Meniere's disease and migraine had a stronger association with psychiatric comorbidities (64.29% vs. 25.80%, p=0.01), shorter duration of vertigo episodes (143 vs. 393 min, p=0.02), and younger age (36.6 vs. 50.8 yr, p=0.005) at the time of endolymphatic sac surgery. Postoperative pure tone averages and word recognition scores were nearly identical to preoperative baselines. Class A vertigo control (47.92%) was most common, followed by class B vertigo control (31.25%). The FLS score improved from 4.2 to 2.8 (p < 0.001). Both patients with and without migraine had classes A-B vertigo control (66.67% vs. 80.95%) without any statistically significant difference (p=0.59). Of the patients who required secondary treatment (10.42%), none had migraine.

Conclusions

Endolymphatic sac surgery is an effective surgical intervention for Meniere's disease with and without migraine. Patients with comorbid migraine tend to be younger and present with psychiatric comorbidities.